Encounters Across Cultures: ‘Seeds of Life’ by Swire Hotels’ The House Collective comes to Hong Kong, its second stop in this year’s art journey

Hong Kong, 24 May 2019 – The House Collective by Swire Hotels launched its first ever art programme, ‘Encounters Across Cultures’ earlier this year at The Opposite House in Beijing. Over the course of this year, the programme will travel to each of the four Houses starting with The Opposite House, The Upper House, The Middle House and finally The Temple House. Now making its second stop on its journey around The House Collective, ‘Encounters Across Cultures’ opening event at The Upper House kicked off successfully with media, VIPs and friends of the House all present to celebrate the collaboration between Katja Loher, our feature artist, and Hong Kong-based feng shui designer, Thierry Chow.

Multidisciplinary Swiss-born artist, Katja Loher, known for her videosculptures and the feature artist for this year’s Encounters Across Cultures, continues her exhibition titled ‘Seeds of Life’. Inspired by the five Chinese elements – metal, wood, water, fire and earth – Katja creates videos that infuse the local culture, dance, costume, art, design and music together, bringing these elements to life at each of the four Houses.

Although Hong Kong is such a vibrant and diverse city with many Western influences imbedded in its culture, it still carries with it many traditional Chinese beliefs and practices, a particularly prominent one being feng shui. For this installation at The Upper House, Thierry has joined Katja in creating an environment through the positioning of the five elements video projections where positive energy or qi, in Chinese, can flow freely throughout the space. Thierry herself appears in Katja’s videos as they explored the five elements at play in the city together. Katja’s elements, exhibited on L4, L6 and L49, allows guests to discover the elements and its synergy with feng shui while journeying upwards through the House.

Thierry’s father, Chow Hon Ming, is one of Hong Kong’s most respected feng shui masters and since 2011, Thierry has studied feng shui under the guidance of her father. Graduating from Sheridan College in Toronto, Canada, with a Bachelor in Applied Illustration, Thierry brings an artistic perspective to feng shui, applying both its emotional and physical elements to all aspects of design.
Managing Director of Swire Hotels, Toby Smith said: “Art and design are completely at the core of who we are as a brand. Our typical guests are seasoned travellers with a genuine passion for art and culture, people who seek a different experience from the hotels they choose. As a result we are always looking for new ways to inspire and connect them with the locale.

Our inaugural art programme is a way of breaking down cultural boundaries and celebrating collaboration. We have long standing relationships with the art scene in each of the cities in which our Houses are based and our art programme is a wonderful way to reflect this.”

Encounters Across Cultures: ‘Seeds of Life’ installation will be at The Upper House from now until 21 June. Special cocktails based on each of the five elements have also been created and will be served at Café Gray Deluxe until 21 June.